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HomeMy Public PortalAbout19770209 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) AA1 Meeting 77-4 ARE- MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT Regular Meeting Board of Directors M I N U T E S February 9 , 1977 745 Distel Drive Los Altos , CA I. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by President Wendin at 7 :35 P.M. Members Present: Katherine Duffy, Barbara Green, Nonette Hanko, George Seager, Edward Shelley and Daniel Wendin. Member Absent: Harry Turner Personnel Present: Herbert Grench, Edward Jaynes , Anne Crosley, Carroll Harrington, Jon Olson, Stanley Norton, Del Woods and Phyllis Lee. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Minutes of January 26 , 1977 D. Wendin referred to page five, paragraph five, line two of the motion and stated that the word "convenience" should be changed to "meeting" . Also on line four of the motion the word "or" should be changed to "on" . D. Wendin stated the consensus that the minutes of January 26 , 1977 be approved as amended. III. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS P. Lee referred to a letter dated January 26, 1977 from the South San Mateo County League of Women Voters advising the Board that Geri Albers has been appointed their official observer to the Board. P. Lee stated that a letter had been received dated January 26, 1977 from Barry Block and Harry Aine of Palo Alto, requesting the Board' s P ermission to cut and remove dead wood from the 275 acre former Dahl property recently acquired by the District. H. Grench advised the Board that a draft response to this request was attached to the letter and requested the Board consider the response and approve or make changes where appropriate. A negative response was being recommended since it would be contrary to the District' s land use regulations which were written to protect the natural character of the land. B. Minutes of February 9, 1977 D. Wendin referred to page three, paragraph three and asked that the first sentence be reworded for clarification to reflect that R. Childress said, "in the event that a small part of the Phillips and Nellis properties were to be developed, the District would acquire the remaining Phillips and Nellis properties , D. Wendin stated the consensus that the minutes of February 9, 1977 be approved as amended. Meeting 77-4 Page two D. Wendin said that the draft response reflected the policies of the Board as set forth in the District "Regulations for Use of District Lands" , and he stated the consensus of the Board was that the letter should be sent as presented. P. Lee referred to a letter dated February 4 , 1977 from the Santa Clara County Local Agency Formation Commission asking that the Board consider the matter of a name change to more accurately re- flect the purpose of the District. The letter stated that the request was made because during the detachment hearings over the last few months, there seemed to be much confusion over the word "Park" in the District 's title when it is primarily an open space agency. D. Wendin asked whether staff felt a response to LAFCO was in order. H. Grench said staff would draft a letter to LAFCO advising them that the matter would be given Board consideration at a future Board meeting. D. Wendin introduced Richard Childress of Regnart Canyon in Cupertino, who had written a letter dated February 2, 1977, to the Board expressing concern over development in the Canyon and the possible formation of a road assessment district. Mr. Childress stated that the residents of the Regnart Canyon area were concerned with the outcome of the establishment of an assess- ment district in the canyon and in addition, the general character of the canyon being changed due to the development of the area by the Nellis 's already in progress. He asked whether or not the District was legally able to participate in an assessment district as proposed for that area. H. Grench replied that the District was not interested in contribut- ing to an assessment district along Regnart Road, since the District had no plans for vehicular access along that road, and the road assessment district would not benefit the MRPD. S. Norton commented on the legal aspects of such an assessment dis- trict. He said that formation of this type of district would require owners of 60% of the- property to be assessed to sign a petition. An alternate method would be that the City Council could, without a petition, begin proceedings to form the district. He added that if the assessment district were formed by either of these methods , the MRPD would have no choice but to participate in the district; however, it would have the same rights as private property owners, including the right to protest or not sign the petition at the out- set. He stated that there were many alternatives to the formula for levying of taxes in the road assessment district. He said that after initial steps had been taken to form an assessment dis- trict, there would be a time for protest from property owners. If there was a protest by property owners owning over half the property, it could stop the project; however, the council would still have the option to override the protest by a 4/5 vote. R. Mark, 725 Cowper, Palo Alto, said he would expect that if the Meeting 77-4 Page three District were to become a part of such an assessment district, the public should then have access along Regnart Road to District lands. H. Grench said the improvement of Regnart Road, after formation of a road assessment district, would probably be contrary to the basic policy of the MRPD because such improvement would tend to encourage development and use up still more open space. In answer to a question from D. Wendin, R. Childress said that if the District were to acquire the remaining Phillips and Nellis properties , the Nellis development would still go ahead, but the kind of impact on the road and improvement of the road would be much less, possibly to the extent that it would be done privately. He added thatas stated in his letter to the Board, the residents of the canyon would like to see the MRPD do something in a timely manner to save the character of the area. D. Wendin advised Mr. Childress that the Board would discuss this matter in the executive session immediately following the Board meeting. H. Grench referred the Board to correspondence received from the residents of the Hassler area in San Carlos urging the Board to examine possible acquisition of the site for open space. He added that the staff was responding to these residents advising them that when the matter is placed on an agenda for Board considera- tion, they will be notified. IV. ADOPTION OF AGENDA H. Grench asked that the Board add an item under New Business with Action Requested to consider possible scheduling of a Special Meeting to discuss the Hassler site. It was the consensus of the Board that the agenda be adopted with the above addition. V. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Trout Black, 11924 Rhus Ridge, Los Altos Hills, distributed a letter to the Board containing his proposal for projects on the District's Picchetti property. He said he was currently heading the environmental education program at the Hidden Villa property and he would like to incorporate some of the activities in the Hidden Villa program at the District 's Picchetti property. He added that he had discussed some of these ideas with District staff. He said the property lends itself to some type of inter- pretive program, and there is the possibility of funding from State sources to set up such a program. He mentioned the pos- sibility of coordinating the program with the parks and recreation departments in the area. Meeting 77-4 Page four D. Wendin informed Mr. Black that the Board had appointed a subcommittee to draft a policy statement for multi-agency use of sites, and that his proposal for the Picchetti property would logically fall into this category. He also asked staff to con- sider Mr. Black' s proposal, if it might reduce the amount of staff time necessary to consult several agencies in the use and plan- ning for the site. He added that it is the normal procedure for staff to make such use and management recommendations and, when necessary, present such recommendations to the Board for consideration. VI. NEW BUSINESS WITH ACTION REQUESTED A. Proposed State Legislation H. Grench introduced his memorandum (M-77-15) dated February 1, 1977, regarding Proposed State Legislation. He explained that at the January 26, 1977 meeting he reported to the Board that he had attended a meeting of the general managers of the four re- gional park districts in California. At that meeting, proposed State legislation was discussed. Some of the items the districts would be considering during the next legislative term are as follows : (a) Proposition 2, November 1976 - the concern of the districts involved is the equitable distribution of funds from the recent parks bond act. (b) SB 174 - Each year the State allocates funds for parks and recreation under this bill. This year it is being reviewed by the State legislature, and the feeling of the regional park districts is that there is some threat of local proposals taking priority over regional parks proposals. (c) Protective Zoning - East Bay Regional Park District is attempting to get legislation introduced that would give zoning powers to the regional park districts for protection of wilderness areas. (d) Exchange of Property - Marin County Open Space District is proposing legislation which would allow an exchange of property to allow acquisition of in-holdings for non-vital land of equal value. (e) Election Law - Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District is initiating a proposal that the Uniform District Election Law be referred to in the Public Resources Code as the law to be followed when an elections procedure is not included in the Public Resources Code. (f) Claims - East Bay Regional Park District wishes to allow the approval of bills within the confines of Meeting 77-4 Page five budget by the Controller without the individual claims list approval. The Controller would report to the Board once a month regarding paid claims. (g) Emergency Vehicle Legislation - The MRPD staff is pro- posing that vehicles used by regional park district peace officers be given emergency vehicle privileges. Other items of interest discussed were trails legislation, prop- erty tax reform and an emergency loan fund. H. Grench recommended that the Board direct Legal Counsel to follow up on these and other legislative matters and report back to them as appropriate. It was the consensus of the Board that Legal Counsel would follow up on legislation as recommended. B. Proposed Amendment to PERS Contract A. Crosley referred to a report from the General Manager (R-77-6) dated February 4, 1977 regarding a Proposed Amendment to the PERS Contract. She said that at its November 14, 1973 meeting the Board approved a contract between the District and the Public Employees Retirement System, providing for employee membership in PERS. At that time, the employer contribution to PERS was 7. 67% of monthly salaries of District employees. As of July 1, 1976, the employer contribution rate was increased to 8. 67%. At the request of District staff an evaluation of the contribution rate has been made by PERS. According to the evaluation, the District can "unpool" from the miscellaneous member group it is presently in by adding a Final Compensation benefit not offered to employees belonging to the miscellaneous member group. The Final Compensa- tion benefit would provide for computation of an employees re- tirement allowance based upon his or her twelve highest paid consecutive months of employment, rather than the thirty-six highest paid months as is done for miscellaneous members. She said that when an agency "unpools",,its employer contribution rate is recalculated based upon the characteristics of its employees, rather than those of the numerous agencies lumped in the miscellaneous group. Since District employees have the characteristic of being relatively young and having short lengths of service under PERS, these factors have the effect of reducing the District' s contribution rate from 8. 67% to 6.155%, while at the same time adding a benefit for District employees. This change would result in a current savings to the District of ap- proximately $6,400 per year. She further stated that the recommendation to the Board is to adopt the Resolution of Intention to Approve an Amendment to the Contract between the Board of Administration of the Public Em- ployees Retirement System and the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Park District. If approved, staff would then present additional documents for Board approval at a later time. Meeting 77-4 Page six Motion: N. Hanko moved that the Board of Directors adopt the Resolution of Intention to Approve an Amendment to the Contract between the Board of Administration of the Public Employees Retirement System and the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Park District. D. Wendin seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. C. Possible Scheduling of a Special Meeting to Consider Hassler Site H. Grench advised the Board that the site evaluation of the Hassler Health Home property is nearly completed. Due to citizen concern in the San Carlos area and the tight time constraint to make a decision on the site, he asked the Board whether or not it would be possible for them to consider a time and place to hold a Special Meeting for presentation of the report. D. Wendin asked H. Grench what the anticipated result of such a meeting would be. H. Grench replied that staff would be prepared to make a recommendation at that time of Board policy regarding Hassler. After discussion of possible dates, H. Grench recom- mended that the Board authorize the President to consult with them and schedule a Special Meeting as soon as possible. It was the consensus of the Board that the President could schedule a Special Meeting to discuss the Hassler Health Home Site. VII. NEW BUSINESS WITH NO ACTION REQUESTED A. Goals Workshop Follow-Up D. Wendin asked the Board and staff to comment on any items dis- cussed at the MRPD Goals Workshop held on February 5, 1977 . H. Grench stated that at the Workshop the Board appointed two subcommittees, one to develop organization use policies and the other to reconsider the District' s Site Naming Policies. In addition, J. Melton, Controller, was asked to report to the Board at a later date on the financial situation of the District. Robert Mark would, using a computer, project possible trends for the coming years with regard to funds available for land acquisi- tion and land management, and use of the District's borrowing power. Consideration of a name change for the District would be placed on a future Board meeting agenda. He further stated that it seemed to be the feeling of the Board at the Workshop that staff should take initiative in the Action Plan as to changes or new directions in the various programs. VIII. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS A. Draft Master Plan Map H. Grench told the Board that the revised version of the composite map for the Master Plan is displayed at this meeting. He added that the graphics would be sent to the printer soon. Meeting 77-4 Page seven B. Citizens Committee to Save Hassler Meeting G. Seager advised the Board and staff that the People United to Save Hassler would sponsor a public meeting to discuss the site on February 10, 1977 , at 8 : 00 in the San Carlos High School multi-use room. C. Status of Maurantonio/Gregory Site Acquisition E. Jaynes reminded the Board that approximately one year ago the Board authorized the negotiation of approximately 68 acres in the Regnart Canyon area adjacent to the Fremont Older site. A portion of that land, about 48 acres, has been acquired. Since that time, staff has continued to negotiate for the remaining 20 acres and has reached an agreement with the owners of the prop- erty. The item will be ready for Board consideration at the February 23, 1977 Board meeting. IX. CLAIMS Motion: E. Shelley moved approval of the revised claims (C-77-3) dated February 9 , 1977. N. Hanko seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. X. EXECUTIVE SESSION The Board recessed to Executive Session at 9 :10 to discuss land negotiations. XI. ADJOURNMENT The Board reconvened to adjourn at 11:47 P.M. Phyllis Lee Recording Secretary